A Play Gone Wrong

Stern eyes scanned the crowd of the on-campus auditorium, darker than the depths of the sea. Queen Serena had arrived along with fanfare to congratulate her short stay a week after I almost threw the stone away. Since then, Kai had moved out with his distant aunt that liked him much better. I was glad too, though I would miss having him as 'the brother I never had.'

My thoughts snapped back into reality, for the eyes scared me as I peeked from behind the red curtain. Her crown was made of shells, starfish and underwater gems in an assortment of colors. As hues of the sunset glowed from her crown, I continued to sweat bullets. Tonight was the night I was supposed to blow everyone away, and it made my head spin. A long, cheep skirt covered in sequins draped from my waist down, emanating the fact that I was playing a mermaid.

"Lily, it's almost time!" Samm bounced excitedly next to me. He must have found someone's candy stash and binged it all, for he was much more hyper than he should have been. "I get to be a jerk to you again!"

"Shush!" I shut him up. "You are going to get me in trouble."

"Sorry," I could tell he didn't care that much. "Who are you looking for anyway?"

I went quiet. Who was I looking for? Was I looking for anyone at all? "I don't know. My mom couldn't come."

"What?!" he gasped. "What is she doing? Playing cards and staring at the wall?"

"It's not her fault, Samm." I sighed, regretting telling the hyper-active boy anything in the first place. "Are you ready for the preformance?"

"I am, but your bodyguard's not," snickered Samm. "I heard him practicing outside with himself last night."

"He was that loud?" I asked.

"No, I just used telepathy," Samm laughed. "His need to be perfect was so funny I couldn't sleep!"

I glanced behind him to see Camm, staring daggers from across the room of my loud classmates. The only way he would have been able to hear was if he used telepathy too. It was easy to see the boys didn't give each other an ounce of privacy.

"Do you torment your brother like this often?" I shot back, unamused.

"More or less," Samm's answered.

The next thing I knew, I was on stage as the curtains rolled back. From there I was lunged into the first scene, the ball.

My socks I wore, so it seemed more like I was swimming, almost made me slip as I walked over to Camm. I extended my arm to take my masquerade mask from him. He spoke the first line, "Enjoy yourself, lady Atlanti."

"My, you talk as if it's my last night alive," I made sure to come on strong.

"Knowing how many cruel rulers are in attendance, I wouldn't be surprised if you had verbal arrows shot through your chest," he replied and walked away to Samm, passing the only other people on stage: Lance, Kayhari, Rinna and Owen.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance," I curtsyed as practiced. Suki had given me an entire lecture on it that I would never forget. I giggled in character, "May I have this dance?"

Samm almost died of laughter at my fake chuckles. "Well, well. A princess of such boldness should realy be contained. A bottle to swallow her words would be nice. I will come anyway."

The boy took my hand and world us right into the music. The music was a violin-looking instement that didn't exist in the normal world. It was a simple piece played by Ms. solving. Everything had gone to plan... or so I throught.

Not a moment later, Kayhari had obnoxiously tripped over the coatrack prompt near the back of the stage, causing her to trip and nearly tumble. Lance tried to catch her, but she pulled on his arm for balance, swinging them both around in a circle. The tornado that was the duo world across the stage, knocking into various tables and seats placed to make the underwater castle feel more real.

With all the noise and chaos having no sign of stopping, Samm and I were forced to yell our lined over the crashing of many heavy props. "So, how was the wine?"

"It is no better than the simpleton music playing in the room!" he yelled back. "Do you not know of better ingredients?"

"Such nonsense, you should know better than-" he cut me off as scripted with a cry for help. Kayhari and Lance had bumped hard into Samm, leaving them in a pile on the floor.

"I should know better than to come to a castle with parents such as yours!" Samm finished my sentence with what air he had in his lungs. I could feel Suki's distressed panic emanate as she closed the curtains.

Everything from there went as planed. The good king and queen set the mermaid princess, Atlanti, up with the evil prince and she escapes with the help of her guard. It was finaly time for the last scene.

"Such strong will, it pains my heart to watch it go with you," Camm recited his line, but it didn't sound as artificial as the other times we practiced. "Will you ever come back?"

The moon above the glass ceiling just peaked over the curtains, shining on me. It created a blue aura just like the underwater grotto Camm and I pretended to be in. I took a deep breath in as my body began to feel a surge of pressure. It was like the dream I had of drowning. "I want to see you again, but we both know this portal may kill me."

"Are you going to give up now and come home," asked Camm hopefully. I looked over at him wistfully.

"Even if I wanted to, I won't be welcome home with such open arms," I replied. "Even I know that."

"But I would welcome you!" he shouted, and the passion in his voice echoed across the stage. "I could make something up, like I could just say I followed some bandits that kidnapped you. It would really be no big deal!"

We stared at each other in silence for a moment. My hand found the Gem around my neck as it started to flash. With my deflated breath, I delivered the last line of the night. "But I don't want to become the ocean."

That's when it happened. I couldn't last without taking off the necklace, it was slowly killing me. It was my cue to walk off stage as if to walk through the portal, but my knees became wobbly, and my body shook. But then, an odd sensation filled my body. Air slowly drifted back into my lungs, and I felt light as a feather. I saw glowing waters swirl around me as it reflected the blue moonlight. Tired, I attempted to walk, but all I could do was stand. Somehow, half of my consciousness had drained away.

The necklace left my hands, floating with me, as if I had truly been in the ocean. It was all I could see, the dim, cyan spotlight blacked out blurry heads, silhouettes coming to see how I could seem to finish the performance. The Nickeler stone glowed with the water. I couldn't hear much, but the faint 'oohs' and 'aahs.'

When the water vanished at a moment's notice, I regained my consciousness and full sanity. It was like I had been half asleep, floating between realities of what is real and what is not. I was still dazed as a certain royal came up to the stage immediately. She looked upon my half-lidded eyes in the blue light as everyone watched. I could almost see a smile on her lips, but I wasn't sure if I was seeing anything correctly.

She took my hand and raised it high. Her voice boomed. "The heir of Aquasoa has returned!"